Moncton River of Pride Responds to "No Crosswalks" Ruling

2018-06-04 • Moncton

River of Pride, South-Eastern New Brunswick’s LGBTQ+ community organization, has had the pleasure of collaborating with municipalities for many years now in their support of sexual and gender diversity. Unfortunately, the Province of New Brunswick has asked municipalities in our region to no longer paint rainbow crosswalks on provincial roads, which restricts their ability to show their support to the LGBTQ+ community.

Municipalities have informed us that the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure has communicated this directive to municipalities that had painted rainbow crosswalks in 2017. A committee formed by the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) says it is currently studying non-conforming colours and patterns found in the nation’s crosswalks. The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, opting to follow the TAC’s guidelines, has written to municipalities explaining that rainbow crosswalks, although not strictly illegal, should not be painted until the end of the TAC’s study.

The Transportation Association of Canada’s Executive Coordinator has informed us that the committee will not be holding public consultation and has not set a fixed timeline for the end of the study. They next follow-up was to be provided in the fall.

River of Pride recognizes that South-Eastern New Brunswick municipalities can choose to respect the directive from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. After previous years’ great show of support, we are convinced municipalities’ support of sexual and gender diversity will not be diminished by this obstacle. We propose three ways in which municipalities can continue demonstrating their commitment to respect and inclusion of our LGBTQ+ community.

We encourage all municipalities to continue to display symbols in solidarity with our community on other municipal grounds. This may include painting rainbow motifs in parks, on lampposts and at City Hall, Town Hall or municipal building entrances. We encourage creativity!

We invite all municipalities to participate in the Greater Moncton Pride Parade on Saturday August 25, 2018. Since 2016, many municipalities, such as the City of Moncton and the Town of Riverview, have participated in the Parade. In 2018, we’d be very pleased to see participation from municipalities multiply.

We encourage all municipalities to invite us to offer workshops on LGBTQ+ allyship in their community. We would have happy to tour the region and engage with municipalities willing to demonstrate their support of sexual and gender diversity by hosting an educational activity. For example, for May 18, 2018, which is International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the Village of Cap-Pelé hosted such an event in partnership with River of Pride and AIDS Moncton and invited members of municipal council and staff in addition to businesses and community groups to attend.

Our population was impressed by the presence of rainbow crosswalks all over the region last year. This year, municipalities can show South-Eastern New Brunswick how their support has not wavered but grown by participating in the 2018 Pride Parade, creating opportunities for workshops on LGBTQ+ allyship and displaying other visible symbols of solidarity.

Despite the directive of the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, we have confidence South-Eastern New Brunswick municipalities will once again shine as model allies. River of Pride is happy to offer itself as an undeniable partner in our shared objective of celebrating the LGBTQ+ community through respect of sexual and gender diversity.